How best to use Bio-Spira?

Just follow the directions on the package of Bio Spira and you will be fine.

Yes, dechlorinate the water. Use Prime or BioSafe.

(Marineland, who makes BioSpira wants you to use their BioSafe, however you can sub with Prime as per an email from them. They don't want you to use Amquel -- which IME shouldn't really be a problem but it's their product --so don't use anything else but those two)

Add the Bio Spira.

Add the fish, ALL the fish.

Do not change the water for at least 48 hours or you will just be removing the bacteria. THey need time to colonize.

Monitor the water diligently. Track the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates for at least 7 days.

Mostly likely your tank will cycle in 24 hrs and you will have a reading of ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate ~5-10ppm. If you do not show readings like those, it did not cycle immediately. That's okay.

If it does not cycle, wait 48 hours and test again.
If you still do not show the above readings, start doing water changes to keep the ammonia at .25 or under and the nitrites at .25 or under.

Keep doing this until you read 0, 0, ~5-10

Once the cycle is finished, plan on your first "real" water change of 50% 7 days after the cycle finishes. Schedule water changes of 50% every week thereafter for optimal fish health.

I've cycled over 13 tanks with Bio Spira.
90% cycled in 24 hours. The rest took from 3 days to two weeks. The one that took two weeks was my own fault. I changed the water within the 48 hour period.

Roan

Would this 48hr rule apply to products like Hagen's 'Cycle'.

I've been adding it to my tank, but not seen any decrease in Ammonia levels and they were high enough that I've been doing 25% water changes daily.

I've then added the Cycle after the water change, but I guess it's only had 20 to 24 hrs before I've tested and doen another water change.

I haven't been able to find Bio-Spira in Australia, so I'm hoping the 'Cycle' will do the job.

Gomisan said:

Would this 48hr rule apply to products like Hagen's 'Cycle'.

I've been adding it to my tank, but not seen any decrease in Ammonia levels and they were high enough that I've been doing 25% water changes daily.

I've then added the Cycle after the water change, but I guess it's only had 20 to 24 hrs before I've tested and doen another water change.

I haven't been able to find Bio-Spira in Australia, so I'm hoping the 'Cycle' will do the job.

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The reason you are not seeing any results from Cycle is because it does not work.

Cycle does not contain bacteria that will colonize in a fresh water aquarium. The bacteria, if any, in Cycle is most likely dead. FW bacteria must be kept refridgerated or else they will simply start to reproduce, and die. There is no food in there for them.

Bio Spira is currently the only product that contains the correct bacteria for fresh water aquaria. It must be refridgerated properly or the bacteria will die. The refridgeration keeps the bacteria from continuing its life cycle and dying off. This is why it's so important that it be stored properly.

Wish you guys could get it in Aussie. Canada can't even get it yet. That sucks.

Roan

So the claims that Cycle makes are bogus double talk? Good thing I only bought the small bottle :duh:

What about bacteria from another, established tank? We have a tank at work (I work at a college, and the Biology dept has a Freshwater tropical tank). Is there any way to transfer some of the guys from there to help my tank along?

There isn't much in the school tank, gravel, a few Vallis and a VERY big rock... but I'm sure they wouldn't mind donating soem gravel or water or something for a good cause.

Get a nylon stocking and take a couple of handfuls of the gravel from the established tank. Drop the stocking into your tank. I only say to use a stocking since it may or may not be consistent as far as size and color to the gravel you're using. If it's the same type of gravel, then dump it into your tank. Avoid spreading it around too much, let it remain together, and the bacteria that are present will spread. It will aid in jump starting your cycle. However, the best thing to do, other than using Bio-Spira, is to take some of the filter media from the filter. Filter floss, or a filter pad would be excellent, especially if it's dirty. Put it into your filter, and your tank will cycle much quicker.

I recently set up a 50 gallon tank to move a load of Peacocks to, and took a medium sized bag full of charcoal from a well established tank. The charcoal was pretty dirty. I filled the canister filter with tank water from an established tank, and then rinsed the charcoal thoroughly inside the filter right over the filter sponges. A lot of debris washed out of the media bag and charcoal and clung to the sponges. I dumped 11 2-4" fish into this tank immediately, and ran the new canister filter along with a much smaller filter that had been running on another tank as an auxiliary. That tank has been up for 5 weeks, with no spikes in ammonia, nitrites or nitrates. The water remains clear, and the fish happy. I do a 20% water change every 10 days or so. The tank mirrors tanks set up for years. Bio-Spira will give you similar results, although the few times I've used it, it took a few days for larger aquariums. I used it with a 27 gallon tank that cycled in 24 hours.

Good advice.

Gomisan,
Just a note -- the bacteria do not live in the water column so using water from another source won't help. You need gravel or filter media, as w6wat outlined.

Another note is that even using media from another tank does not always work immediately. Ask IceH2O about that one. Or me, even. I used filter media in conjunction with Bio Spira and it still took two weeks for one of my 75gs to cycle. That doesn't mean to say that it does not work, it certainly helped quite a bit and is worth doing.

The above is why I usually use Bio Spira in conjunction with established media from another tank. Double shot

w6wat,
As far as bigger tanks go, I've cycled 2 75gs and 1 65g with Bio Spira. One 75g cycled over night with Bio Spira in conjunction with an established filter from another tank. The 65g took three days with no media at all. The last 75g took two weeks, with several shots of established media.

My 36g (back in October) also took about 1½ weeks to cycle with Bio Spira, but the length of time for that was entirely my own fault and due to ignorance on my part.

Roan

Thanks for the info on bacteria transfer too! I've brought some zip lock bags to work today and will try and get some gravel & filter media.

I've also brought a sample of my own tank water to get analysed at my aquarium shop, as I don't have a full gamut of test kits yet to do a comprehensive test at home.

ajehly said:

Thanks for your help with the Bio-Spira, Roan.

I added a packet of Bio-Spira and 5 white clouds to my 5 gallon tank yesterday.

Took the readings this morning -- just ammonia and nitrite so far, because I don't have the nitrate test kit yet.

Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0

So, not perfect but I'll check again tomorrow. Cute little buggers, though!

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You're welcome!

Not a 24 hour cycle, but that's okay. Remember, don't change the water. Just keep checking. I bet it's a 3 day cycle.

When my tanks cycled in 24 hours, I never saw an ammonia or nitrite reading. Was pretty darn cool

Roan